


Universe 6

by saiyansaga



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Canon? What Canon?, Childhood Friends to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn, goku isn’t left on earth, i can’t believe i wrote this shit, saiyans au, what’s better than childhood friends?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24667444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiyansaga/pseuds/saiyansaga
Summary: It is known that the sixth universe is a twin universe, almost identical to the seventh and with a story of its own. In it, Kakarot fulfills his mission on Earth and joins his fellow remaining saiyans enlisted in Freeza’s army. With his odd ways, unusually gifted strength and inexorable ability to connect with those around him, he is a misfit within these new walls impossible to ignore. Especially by Vegeta, the young orphaned prince leading them as they fight to survive living among their enemies. As their bonds are tested in more ways than one, together they will be forced to question what being a saiyan truly means and just what it is they mean to each other.
Relationships: Kakarot/Vegeta (Dragon Ball), Son Goku/Vegeta (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28





	Universe 6

**Age 741**

_ Wake up, Kakarot. Look at the moon. _

It took exactly one hundred forty-eight days for Kakarot to conquer planet Earth. And just about every single one of those days were spent in the same way. During the day he tested his strength against the planet’s military forces, which were by no means all that challenging. By night, he would transform, becoming the most powerful destructive force the planet had ever seen. Over the course of this time he wiped out countless cities, annihilating all who tried to stop him. 

It hadn’t always been like that though. There had been brief moments when Kakarot got to take in the planet without the disruption of its human inhabitants. The untouched areas had become his favorite and he had withheld from damaging them anymore than he had to. The forests had allowed him to feel a serenity he hadn’t felt since before he had arrived on Earth, when he was in his incubation chamber, blissfully unaware. He had imagined that must be what it felt like to be at home, for the Earth was all he really knew. And upon the nights when the moon had disappeared, Kakarot had turned his gaze up to the stars. On those nights he had longed for a home he didn’t truly know.

Later, it would come to be known that one hundred forty-eight days was a rather impressive time for a single saiyan to conquer a planet, let alone a child, even by saiyan standards, but Kakarot had not been aware of this fact. What had really pushed him to work fast was the pod’s excessive prompting, telling him the same things over and over: wake up, look at the moon, conquer the planet, return to Vegeta. If wiping out the planet’s defenses and in turn civilization as the world knew it meant he could get back to his family, then he would do so as fast as he could.

The day he had been sent away haunted him every night. He remembered pushing his face up to the glass of the pod while his parents bade their farewells to him from the other side. He would do anything to get back to them, including conquering planet Earth.

_ “You have to stay alive.” _

_ “Take care.” _

Their final words rang through Kakarot's head once more where he stood now. With everything he had been sent there to do finished, all that was left was to return to Vegeta and then he would see his parents again. He had returned to the pod from whence he came, in a crater in the middle of a forest of bamboo trees. He was wearing some sort of earthly training clothes he had found nearby that was a deep blue that reminded him of the planet’s oceans along with a bright white sash to tie it on with. The battle armor he had been sent in had long ago become unwearable, not to mention a bit too small, but these were light and comfortable and would do for the time being.

He pressed a hand to the pod to open it, which it did very slowly after a moment. The pod had taken a beating during its time on Earth, when Kakarot had unknowingly hit it a few times upon the first of his nightly transformations. Since then he had learned how to better control his Oozaru form.

The tip of Kakarot's tail twitched back and forth in anticipation. “I’ve done what you said. Take me home.” Kakarot got right to the point. He had waited too long for formality. 

Lights on the inside blinked and flashed, processing his words. The disembodied voice spoke then, praising him, but uncaring of his demand.  _ "Well done, Kakarot. Planet successfully conquered. Mission report sending."  _

“That's not what I‒” He started in exasperation before being cut off.

“ _ Well done, Kakarot. Planet successfully conquered.”  _

All of Kakarot's frustration rose to the surface. He snarled, slamming his fist into the side of the machine, adding another dent to the countless others. "I want to leave!" 

_ "Attack ball status report: critical damage received; unable to make return flight. Requesting extraction team." _

“What does that mean?"

“ _ Contacting nearest saiyan ship to take Kakarot off planet. _ ”

“How long’s that gonna take?” Kakarot's tail thrashed from side to side in agitation.

“ _ Estimated arrival time: one year. _ ”

“ _ One year! _ ” He exclaimed in shock. That shock was quickly replaced by a feeling of hollowness as the words finally sunk in. “But that’s such a long time….” He murmured, tail drooping.

One more year of solitude after the one and a half he had just spent travelling to Earth and conquering it. Picking himself up, he headed for the trees. 

  * **• • • • • •**



Far away from Earth, on board the tyrant Freeza’s ship in the deep reaches of space, three Saiyans sat in the quarters reserved just for them. Vegeta, the young Saiyan Prince, was sitting at the head of the table, boredly taking in his surroundings. On the right side of him was his personal guard, Nappa, finishing off the leftovers from the previous meal. The only reason Nappa was alive was because he was meant to serve as Vegeta’s personal guard when the prince had been handed over to Freeza. On Vegeta's left sat Raditz tinkering with his scouter. He was the next oldest, around six years older than Vegeta and a lower-class warrior, not nearly as strong as Nappa, but a loyal saiyan nonetheless. He had been off planet with Vegeta when the planet had been destroyed.

Other than the table they currently occupied, the room was pretty bare, used only for when they returned from a mission. Two doors on the side led to their sleeping areas, each containing two beds. Nappa and Raditz shared the room on the right while Vegeta had the other for himself. They didn't complain, they rarely stayed on the ship as it was. The only reason they were back now was because they had just returned from a year long mission of purging planets. Vegeta didn't mind having such long missions, for that meant they had little interaction with Freeza and the rest of his force.

Vegeta’s scouter beeped, drawing Nappa’s attention, though Raditz continued to focus on his own scouter. A small icon flashed on the screen, indicating an incoming message. Freeza never seemed to be able to give them a moment of rest when they were given time aboard his ship. Vegeta released an irritated sigh and pressed the button to open the message.

“What does Freeza want now?” Nappa asked, mirroring Vegeta’s annoyance.

_ Mission report: Kakarot has successfully conquered planet Earth.  _

The message left Vegeta speechless. Another saiyan was alive? And out conquering planets no less. How? Why hadn't they received contact from them before?

Nappa’s prodding broke him out of his stupor. “Well?” 

“It's not from Freeza.” Vegeta replied faintly. 

“Not from Freeza?” Nappa bellowed, dropping his hands onto the table. “Then who?” 

The young prince recovered from his initial shock. “A report from a saiyan ship belonging to someone called Kakarot.” Vegeta answered, looking up towards Nappa and meeting his eyes.

“Kakarot is alive?” The sudden interruption from Raditz immediately drew both their gazes to the now wide eyed saiyan sitting across from them. 

“You know who this saiyan is?”

“Yes!” Raditz continued, now eagerly leaning over the table, scouter forgotten. “It’s my younger brother. Our father sent him away just before the planet was destroyed, but I never knew where or if he ever made it.”

An image of a child bearing a striking resemblance to himself came to Vegeta’s mind then and with it the familiar feeling of loss. He pushed them both aside immediately, as he always did. 

“Well, I’ll be damned! Another saiyan survived!” Nappa exclaimed in honest surprise.

The scouter gave another alert.  _ Requesting extraction. _

“It seems his ship has been damaged and he needs help getting off planet.” Vegeta informed them after a quick scan of the report’s finer details.

“Then we better go get him.” Raditz said, pushing himself up out of his seat.

“Hey, slow down there, Raditz!” Nappa sat up, placing a hand on Raditz’s shoulder as if to keep him from bolting away. “We only just got back from a long mission and we have a new one in a couple days. We can’t just leave without a proper rest. We don’t even know how far away he is.”

Vegeta checked the coordinates sent by the pod and crossed his arms across his chest. “It’ll take a year’s time to reach him, at the least.”

“We can get him on the return journey.”

“If we leave now to pick him up, we can hit the planets on the way back instead.” Raditz offered, sounding almost a little desperate to Vegeta’s surprise. “The planets will take quicker to purge with another saiyan with us to make up for the late start. We need all the saiyans we can get.”

Nappa hummed in thought, then turned to the young prince. “It's not up to me. Vegeta?”

Both saiyans’ eyes fell on him, instantly making him feel pressured. Vegeta quickly looked to Raditz and found the teen’s expression to be pleading, making the decision even easier. He dropped his gaze to the floor and closed his eyes, hoping he looked like he was really thinking this choice over. In reality, there was no way he would even consider keeping Raditz away from the only family he had left. Not only that, but this was one of the few saiyans left alive. As prince it was his responsibility to his people in doing whatever he could to preserve their numbers.

“Alright,” Vegeta said, opening his eyes and meeting the others’ own. “We can leave for him now. Hurry up and prepare for departure.”

“Thank you, Prince Vegeta.” Raditz at once kneeled in gratitude.

Vegeta gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement, before the three of them dispersed to gather what was needed for the journey. Vegeta couldn’t help himself from feeling a bit jealous towards Raditz. He wondered if he would ever receive a message from Tarble...

_ Enough.  _ He thought, once again pushing his brother from his mind. Weak thoughts like that weren't welcome here.

They met out in the docking bay in front of their own saiyan space pods. Vegeta was thankful most of the rest of Freeza's men were out on their own missions and so the hangar was left blessedly empty of anyone else.

“So who’s pod is he getting in?” Vegeta asked, cocking a brow at the others. He knew damn well it wouldn’t be in his.

Nappa was quick to answer. “It’s Raditz’s brother.”

Raditz huffed in response but climbed into his pod without an argument. Vegeta and Nappa smirked at the lower-class before getting into their own respective pods. Once inside, they turned them online and entered the coordinates in. They shot out of the ship and went into space travel hibernation mode heading towards the stranded saiyan.

  * **• • • • • •**



_ Conquer the planet and then you may return home. _

The afternoon sunlight filtered in through the leaves of the forest Kakarot was currently exploring. Lately, stumbling around forests and fighting predators and thieves were the only thing keeping him busy. It was infuriating! Not for the first time he wondered what the saiyans back home were doing at this moment, what they did to pass the time. It was all so stupid. He knew nothing about himself and he was just  _ stuck  _ here, helpless and waiting.

He threw his fist into a boulder, shattering it completely into pieces and found it felt good to let his pent up rage out. He turned to another and shot a blast of ki out his palm, an explosion of dust raining down. A third boulder was sitting to his left and would not escape the others’ fate. 

Kakarot got his hands under it, lifting it above his head with all his might, preparing to crush it between his hands when the boulder spoke. “Whoa!”

“What in the world?” Kakarot yelped, dropping the boulder in front of him in surprise.

“Ouch, that's a new kind of pain.” The thing said, righting itself and rubbing its head with a...flipper?

“Oh, you're a turtle.” Kakarot bent down, hands on his knees to get a better look at the creature he had mistaken for a rock. Its shell was double the size of him at the least, a earthy brown that could easily be taken for a rock, in his opinion. “What are you doing all the way out here?”

The turtle stopped massaging its bumped head and sighed. “To cut a long story short, I’m lost. I’ve been trying to get back home to sea for around a year now.”

A pang of sadness went through the young saiyan at the familiarity of the turtle’s words. “I know the feeling.”

Kakarot knew where the sea was from there. It would only take several hours of nonstop travel. Even less if he really pushed it. He had nothing better to do anyway. And lots of time to kill. Lots. “I can take you to the sea.”

“Would you really?” The turtle exclaimed in joy. “That's about the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me.”

“It's not a big deal.” Kakarot hoisted the turtle onto his back and lifted off the ground, gaining speed until he was above the canopy of the forest. Trees spread out before them for miles in every direction without a break in sight.

“I didn't know you could fly!” The turtle gasped in alarm, fearfully clinging on to the boy as much as it could despite Kakarot’s hold on him.

“It's faster this way.” The turtle’s reply was drowned out by the rushing wind as Kakarot sped forward.

The land below them became a green blur as Kakarot flew westward. He didn't fly as fast as he could, however, to conserve his energy so he could make the trip without stopping. There wasn't much conversation, most likely because talking while at such high speeds was a bit difficult for the turtle to do, especially as a passenger on the saiyans back. He did inform Kakarot that this wasn't the first time he had gotten lost, however, and probably wouldn't be the last either.

A few hours later, the ocean appeared on the horizon, bringing with it the end of their little journey. Kakarot touched down on the shore, setting the sea turtle down beside him. “Well, here we are. The ocean.”

“It's been so long.” The turtle said looking out at the churning sea. “Thanks for bringing me back.” 

“Hey, no problem. It was nice to have something to do for a change.” Kakarot smiled as the turtle slid its way into the water.

It swam a few feet before before turning to look back over it’s shell at its rescuer. “Would you mind waiting here? I have a gift I’d like to bring you to repay you for everything you've done for me.”

“A gift?” Kakarot repeated in confusion. He wasn't sure what he had done really warranted a reward, but he wouldn't decline. “Er, sure.”

“Be back soon.” The turtle nodded, swimming farther away and then disappearing completely under the water’s surface.

Alone on the beach, Kakarot sat down not knowing how long the turtle would be. Taking in the view of the ocean, Kakarot regarded how big and blue it was. The last time he had seen it had been when he was crossing it back over to this continent after ravaging the other six. He found the sound of the waves slapping against the shore to be calming, and was soon falling into a light sleep.

When Kakarot next opened his eyes, he saw something coming towards him in the distance out on the sea.  _ It's the turtle and it looks like there's someone on his back.  _

As the turtle swam closer, the figure on his back became clear enough to make out. Standing on the turtle’s back was a bald old man with a thick white fu manchu mustache and beard. In his left hand he held a walking stick and on his back was what looked like some kind of shell.

“Sorry, I kept you waiting!” The turtle called from the water. “I had to go get my master.” 

Once they reached land, the turtle’s master stepped out onto the sand, allowing Kakarot to get a better look at him. He was only a foot or so taller than Kakarot, wearing beach clothes and a dark pair of sunglasses. “Well, hello there. I want to thank you for helping my--” The man stopped abruptly mid sentence. “Wait a second! You! You're the kid that's been attacking the planet!”

Kakarot was so taken by surprise at the man’s change in behavior, that he was unable to dodge the fist that slammed into his abdomen, sending him flying.

“Hey!” Kakarot whined, pushing himself up and brushing the sand out of his hair. 

He barely had time to move as the old man came at him again. Kakarot sidestepped him and aimed a kick to his attacker's back, but was stopped by his walking stick and then met with a barrage of hits. Kakarot wasn't used to anyone putting up this much of a fight, let alone an old human. He had never seen these techniques before and so had trouble predicting his next moves, often getting caught off guard. It was absolutely  _ thrilling _ !

The old man sprung away from their fight suddenly, drawing his hands close to his body. “Kame...hame...HA!” Kakarot hardly had any time to register the ki wave before jumping up out of its path, using his tail to latch on to a palm tree. 

Kakarot couldn't help but feel drawn to the sheer strength the man’s techniques possessed. “Hey, you're really good! Do you think you could train me? My name’s Kakarot.”

The man looked startled to find Kakarot still swinging from the tree, unscathed after such a massive attack. “You're not being serious, are you?” The turtle hermit scoffed once he had recovered, though the blast seemed to have left him visibly drained. “You want me to train you? The monster who single handedly destroyed civilization as we knew it?” 

“Well, yeah. What’s wrong with that?” Kakarot asked as he uncurled his tail and dropped down from the tree.

“Did you hear the part about _destroying_ _civilization_?”

“It's not like I really wanted to!” Kakarot yelled, dodging a series of hits. Not that it hadn't been  _ fun _ , but he thought it'd better to leave that part out.

“I’m not some naive old fool! I'm not going to believe that.”

“It's what I was sent here to do! I just wanted to go home.” Kakarot caught a fist in his hand and blocked the other with his forearm. 

“Home?” He asked, brows furrowing as they remained locked in that position, the fight brought to a sudden standstill.

His face was impossible to read with the sunglasses he wore still hiding his eyes when Kakarot added, “To my parents.” 

Quite suddenly, the hermit drew back and leapt a few feet away, leaving Kakarot staggering to catch his balance. “I might need you to elaborate on that.”

Kakarot was cautious, standing his ground and preparing for another surprise attack. “Are you gonna try and punch me while I do?”

The old man sat on the ground, folding his legs underneath him. “I swear I won't, but I can't make any promises about when you’ve finished.”

“Ok, that's good enough for me.” He let his tail move freely as he settled down on the sand, unaware of the stare said furry appendage was being given from behind the man’s sunglasses.

“I come from a great race of warriors called saiyans. Of course, everything I know about us comes from what my space pod taught me, which isn't much.” Kakarot added bitterly. “It told me I was sent here to conquer the planet and then afterwards I would get to return home. I didn't really have anything against Earth when I started destroying it. I wasn't really thinking of anything else but my own desire to get home, ya know. I'm sorry it affected you all so much.” Then he added as an afterthought, hoping it would count for something, “I did try to leave the forest areas as unaffected as possible. I like them.”

“Do you know what they wanted with the planet?”

Kakarot shook his head. “No, sorry.” 

The old man sat still in thought. Kakarot couldn't see his eyes but he knew they were focused in on him, studying him, before he spoke again. “I must say I am a bit surprised at how young and childlike you really are. From those reports on the news, you looked like a very different person. A bit terrifying, actually.”

“I was just doing my job as quickly and efficiently as possible.” Kakarot rubbed the back of his neck and gave a sheepish smile.

“And you said once you conquered the planet you would be sent home. So why is it that you’re still here?”

Kakarot's face fell along with his tail. “My pod was damaged. I have to wait for saiyans to come get me.”

“More saiyans are coming here?” The man questioned, sounding deeply concerned. “When?”

“My pod said in a year, but it's been a couple of weeks since then.”

That seemed to alleviate some of his worry. “You’ve already killed thousands of soldiers and defeated entire nations, why do you want to be trained?”

“I really enjoy fighting and I can only get better! The saiyans coming for me will be way stronger than I am, so I have to train hard if I want to be even near the same level as them. And you seem to know how to fight. You're good with hand to hand, not like those soldiers and their weapons.” He added with distaste. “Anyway, I’d really like to learn your fighting style!”

“How do I know you won't take what I teach you and use it to hurt more people?”

“I only needed my pod to recognize that I conquered the planet. I'm not interested in causing any more damage now that I'm just here waiting to be taken home. I'm done with that.”

The man took in the last of Kakarot's words before he really began to start pondering his decision, rubbing his bearded chin as he looked out back towards the sea.

Finally, he spoke. “If I train you, will you promise to lead the saiyans off and away from this planet without any further destruction when they come?”

“Yeah, sure! I can do that!” Kakarot nodded enthusiastically.

“Then we have ourselves a deal. Welcome to the Turtle School. You can call me Master Roshi.”

  * **• • • • • •**



_ Kakarot, destroy. _

Several months under Roshi’s training had passed leaving Kakarot desperate to get back to the forest for awhile. Roshi had finally permitted him to leave the island with the exception that he stay away from any populated areas, as sparse and little as there were left. Wanting to put his new techniques to the test, including his newly acquired ability to track another’s ki signature, he headed for the mainland, following Roshi’s conditions and sticking to the forest. There had to be someone out here with an impressive enough strength willing to fight.

Passing the beach and over the treeline to the mainland, Kakarot stopped, stretched out his senses and scanned for signs of a ki worthy of a match. He hadn’t exactly perfected the ability yet, and so this was to be treated as a kind of training in its own right. Picking up what he thought were traces of a decently high levelled individual, Kakarot dropped down into the woods and started off in that direction.

_ He’s gotta be around here somewhere.  _ Kakarot thought as he continued the search for the ki signature he had picked up earlier.  _ Maybe I’m just not as good at this as I thought…. _

Just as he was considering giving up and looking somewhere else, a tiny flare of energy in his mind’s peripheral alerted him to his target’s location.  _ There you are! _

Sprinting through the trees now, Kakarot couldn’t keep his tail from flying behind him in anticipation of the fight that was sure to come from this confrontation. The ki got closer and closer, and finally Kakarot was bursting out of the trees into a small clearing. He immediately spotted the one he had tracked, a boy a few years older than himself that turned at the sound of his intrudence. He seemed ordinary enough, aside from the fact that he had a third eye just above and between his other two. Studying him closer now that he was right in front of him, Kakarot could see that, despite his youth, he was one of the more stronger humans he had encountered here on Earth and hoped he would provide a good fight. All three of the boy’s eyes landed on the saiyan’s tail, widening first in shock and then in recognition.

“Hey, wait. You’re that ape monster that massacred the planet! I'll kill you!” The three-eyed boy instantly shifted into attacking positioning

“It's been awhile since I had a real fight.” Kakarot smiled mischievously, crouching into his own battle stance, before the two of them charged at each other.

The two exchanged a few blows, but the older boy was outmatched from the beginning. It didn’t take long for Kakarot to gain the upperhand.

“Are you even trying?” Kakarot taunted from above as he stood on the boy’s back, holding his arm back and threatening to break it. “It doesn't feel like you're killing me.” 

Distracted by his joy of the battle, Kakarot failed to sense the arrival of another. Without warning, a blast of ki shot him off of his opponent and left him sprawled out of the forest floor, momentarily dazed.

“Tien!” Shouted the newcomer, a white-skinned, red-cheeked little human, as he went to the other’s side to help him up.

Tien spoke through gritted teeth, trying to ward his partner away. “Chiaotzu, don't!”

“Two against one?” Kakarot growled, pushing himself off the ground and facing them. The two shrunk back before him at the rage that twisted his features. “That's not very fair.”

Kakarot rushed forward almost faster than they could see and quickly reengaged both of them in the fight. Fueled by his anger, Kakarot overpowered them within moments, dealing each of them a final blow they wouldn't ever recover from.

When it was over, Kakarot looked down at the bodies in disappointment. He supposed it was his own fault for picking such weak opponents in the end. The ki of Master Roshi caught his attention then, and he turned to the direction it was approaching from. The old man had no doubt sensed the battle taking place and was on his way to scold him for disobeying his direct orders.

“Kakarot!” Master Roshi burst into the clearing and stopped dead in his tracks, taking in the scene in horror. “What have you done?”

Kakarot only looked at him expectantly.

“You told me you wouldn't hurt anyone.” He said when Kakarot didn't answer.

“They wanted to kill me.” Kakarot declared in defence. He didn't know what his master was getting so worked up about.

“Yes, but you were stronger than them, you knew they had no chance against you. A good warrior should know when to bestow mercy.”

“Mercy?”

“Listen, Kakarot,” Roshi began, kneeling down and putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I believe there isn't much difference between you and us humans besides a tail. I've seen you show compassion before and I've seen you show mercy. From helping Turtle get home, to sparing the forests from destruction, and every time I see you looking up at the stars at night. I know you can learn to see and treat all life the same way. As something precious not to be mistreated.”

Roshi must have seen that Kakarot was having trouble understanding this concept, for he continued. “We used to have what was called the World Martial Arts Tournament back before you came. All of Earth's greatest fighters would come from all over the world to participate, including myself. We were all incredible in our skill and wanted to win just as much, but one of the rules was no killing and so we all abided by it.”

“I wish I could've been a part of that.”

“Who knows. Maybe if the world is able to rebuild itself before any other invaders decide to really destroy it for good, maybe you will get to be a part of it. Until then, practice its rules. No killing, Kakarot, unless your own life actually  _ does  _ depend on it.”

“Yes, Master Roshi.” Kakarot bowed, but still was unsure if he could truly live by these rules. He would, at the very least, promise to make an effort for his master’s sake. Besides, he really liked the sound of that tournament.

“Now bury their bodies.”

Roshi’s command snapped him from his thoughts of the tournament. “What? Why?”

“Respect. They didn’t deserve to die, Kakarot, and they certainly don’t deserve to be left here. Maybe this will help you learn from your actions. Go on.” He added when Kakarot only looked at him in confusion. 

Kakarot was beyond confused now. He wasn’t really so sure what it meant but it seemed to be important to Roshi. So he got to work. Roshi watched as he blasted two decent sized holes in the ground. He was going to start dragging their bodies over, when a harsh stare from behind Roshi’s sunglasses made him rethink and had him carry them over to the fresh graves instead. 

He picked up the taller, older boy first, Tien, the other one had called him, and gently lowered him into the ground. Stepping back he tried to see him as Roshi did. Kakarot supposed he could have grown into a formidable fighter one day had their paths not crossed as they did. A potential warrior dead before his time, without a chance to see where his strength would take him, to see what his limits were and push beyond that. What a waste. An unfamiliar feeling, one he could not name at first passed over him then: guilt. He felt guilty, like he had stolen something from these people.

Smoothing the piled up dirt over Tien’s body, he moved on to the next, the smaller, even odder looking one. Chiaotzu. Too loyal for his own good perhaps. These two had died for each other. Now he felt loss. For something he never knew or had. Camaraderie. Something or someone to be loyal to. He longed for what these two had. To die in battle with those he cared about around him, for those he cared about. A meaning was given to their fight. 

When it was all done and they were standing over the filled in graves, Kakarot felt the need to say something so he did so quietly. “It wasn’t my intention, you know.”

“Hm?” Roshi turned, surprised, looking as if he hadn’t expected the boy to speak.

“I didn’t go out looking to, well…” He stopped, thinking over his words. “I  _ was _ looking for a fight, but not to kill.” Kakarot tried to make his master understand, he felt compelled for some reason. “I swear.”

Roshi did not respond immediately, but once more studied him more closely. Seeming to somewhat believe his words, he spoke, “Let’s just hope you take something away from this.”

His master turned and began walking toward the treeline back the way he had came, leaving Kakarot to return alone. He didn't get back until nightfall, and by then Roshi was inside already asleep.

That night, staring at the star filled sky, he imagined something worth dying for.

  * **• • • • • •**



_ Return to Vegeta. _

The morning they came was like any other. Kakarot got up, ate, went through his katas and began training by the ocean outside Kame House.

He had recently mastered Roshi’s original attack, the kamehameha wave, no problem. One demonstration from the old man was all it took. Master Roshi, however, insisted it still needed work. Kakarot wasn’t so sure about that, but he supposed practice wouldn’t hurt. After all it could only strengthen the attack and himself further. 

So there they sat, Roshi cross legged on the grass and Kakarot breathing deeply, toes buried in the sand. The waves lapped the shore, a sound Kakarot had come to associate with the calming peace of mind training brought him here on the island everyday. It wasn't a bad life, here on Earth waiting for the saiyans. But the sense of missing out, of something more out there that he should be a part of, separated from the only ones that could understand him was always there with him. He never let it get to him, tried not to any way. There was always training, after all, which meant he had plenty to do while he waited. Doing his daily routines and exercises was about the closest he could get to the saiyans, that and practicing under a sky full of stars gazing up and deciding which planet might be home.

“Again.” Roshi sat, staff in hand and watched as Kakarot performed his original technique, the signature move of his once school, over and over again.

“Ka...me…” He cupped his hands together and drew them close to his side, concentrating his ki into that single point. “Ha...me….” Kakarot started suddenly, as if struck, and the growing sphere of light in his hands instantly diminished.

He looked out across the ocean towards the mainland where he sensed three large ki’s rapidly approaching the earth’s surface. 

Roshi stood, no doubt sensing them as well, and moved over to stand before the boy.

Kakarot turned back around to Roshi with the purest look of joy on his face that the turtle hermit couldn't believe this was the same child who had brought mankind to the brink of extinction less than two years ago.

“They’re here!” He cried. Tears of happiness welled in his eyes that he was quick to wipe away.

“I guess this is it then.” He sighed, a small smile of grim acceptance appearing undering his moustache. “Take care of yourself, Kakarot.” Roshi clapped a hand on his student’s shoulder before letting it fall back to his side. “And keep those saiyans in line, you hear?”

“Yes! Thank you, Master Roshi, for everything!” Kakarot bowed gratefully before leaping into the air in the direction of the powerful ki signatures.

“Of course, son.”

Kakarot hesitated before taking off. This was it. The saiyans were here and they would take him with them and away from this planet, take him back home. This could very well be the last time he set foot on this island, the very last time he trained with his master. All he had known was Earth and it was now coming to an end. 

Suddenly, Kakarot doubled back, crashing into the old turtle hermit with open arms. “I mean it, Master Roshi. Thank you.” He said quietly, trying to convey what he did not know how to say. For teaching him and guiding him and helping him feel a little less lonely during his stay on this foreign world. He would miss him.

Roshi hesitated in surprise for only a moment before returning his hug with just as much fervor. “I have faith in you, boy. You are better than what you were. You’re something else entirely now. Be good, Kakarot.”

He pulled back enough to nod at Roshi. The old master was as human as they had come, but he’d be lying if he said the old man hadn’t rubbed off on him, at least somewhat. 

“Remember all that I’ve taught you.” Roshi said, stepping back to allow Kakarot the room to fly. “And goodbye, son.”

“I will. Bye!” Kakarot gave a final wave and then turned around, speeding off towards the mainland where the saiyans awaited him.


End file.
